Journalism

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

As we noted in the "Writing Style" section, journalism plays an important role in the narrative of Sherlock Holmes stories. Watson's own narrative style has a lot in common with the style of 1890s journalism, as we can see in the fictional newspaper clippings included in lots of the stories. Newspapers also act as an important symbol in these stories though. Newspapers are a source of information and are a major part of daily life here. Journalism in the 1890s was becoming a lot more like the journalism we have today, thanks in part to new communication technologies (like the telegraph) that made it quicker and easier to get information. News was more fast-paced in this era and people were also a lot more aware of what was going on in the world. The cases that Holmes and Watson tackle often have an international scope, and it makes sense that newspapers would play a major role in their work and their daily lives. Holmes and Watson often solve cases very quickly too, which also is reflected by the speed of the news-cycle in this period.